After Dumping the Scumbag Top, I Was Relentlessly Chased by a Top-Tier Idol - Chapter 39

Lin Yizhou: “?”

How did the topic suddenly circle back to him?

“It’s okay if you don’t say it. I’ll be watching you,” Shen Xu dropped those words before heading to the front to draw lots.

Seeing the number on the ping-pong ball, the corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily. He showed it to Lin Yizhou: “Captain, it’s your lucky number.”

Song Chizheng walked past him, tossing out a cool remark: “Childish.”

Once all the guests had finished drawing lots, the staff led them to a platform that had been constructed at some unknown time. They stood in order from left to right.

Thick hemp ropes were wound around their bodies over and over. Pei Yutai looked pitifully at Shen Xu, who was standing next to him, his voice trembling: “Brother Xu, you have to save me later.”

Shen Xu replied: “You don’t trust the Captain?”

“It’s not about the Captain…” Halfway through, Pei Yutai suddenly remembered Lin Yizhou had promised to save him first. He shut his mouth abruptly, looking like he wanted to cry but had no tears. “It’s not that I don’t trust him; it’s that I’m a coward. I’m afraid of dying.”

“Have you tried meditation?” Shen Xu’s tone was flat. He gestured with his chin toward Jiang Yi. “Close your eyes, bring that person into your meditation, and don’t think about anything else.”

Standing third in line, Song Chizheng moved two steps closer to Shen Xu. Turning off his microphone, he spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear: “Want to make a bet?”

Shen Xu said indifferently: “I’m not interested in playing childish games.”

“Afraid to bet?” Song Chizheng’s tone was leisurely.

“Since you want to play so badly, I suppose I can humor you,” Shen Xu raised an eyebrow slightly. “What’s the stakes?”

Song Chizheng looked toward Lin Yizhou on the shore, his voice carrying a hint of a smile: “Let’s bet on who he saves first you or me.”

Shen Xu: “And the prize?”

Song Chizheng: “You like Lin Yizhou, don’t you? If I lose, I’ll hand him over to you.”

“First of all, Zhouzhou isn’t an object; there is no ‘handing over.’ Secondly,” Shen Xu’s eyes gradually turned fierce, “in what capacity do you think you’re speaking?”

“Being the ‘Ex-Husband’ has given you a sense of superiority?”

Song Chizheng crossed his arms: “Well, the person he likes is me. What can you do about it?”

“He likes you?” Shen Xu couldn’t help but let out a mocking laugh. “Where do you get your confidence? From a mirror reflecting a pig?”

“Fine, we’ll bet.” Shen Xu didn’t want to waste any more words. He stated his terms: “If I win, you quit this show immediately and promise never to appear in front of Zhouzhou again. Deal?”

Song Chizheng’s brow furrowed involuntarily.

“Weren’t you just acting so confident? Scared now?” The voice, previously laced with cold amusement, suddenly turned stern. Shen Xu looked up coldly. “If you don’t dare, get out of my sight.”

“Who says I don’t dare?” Song Chizheng sneered. “If I win…”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to ask me to never appear before Zhouzhou?” Shen Xu interrupted mockingly. “Surely not? You wouldn’t lack that much confidence, would you?”

Song Chizheng’s gaze narrowed: “Of course not. If I win, you strip naked and jump into the sea.”

Shen Xu glanced at Lin Yizhou and shrugged with feigned ease: “No problem.”

[Comment Section]

User1: Even though Lin Yizhou promised Pei Yutai to save him first… ha, a guy like him who has no bottom line for fame, is anyone actually counting on him? Really?

User2: How do you know what kind of person he is? Scram!

User3: Prediction for the rescue order: Pei Yutai, Wen Yue, Shen Xu, Jiang Siyuan, Song Chizheng.

Five minutes later, as all the guests were hoisted into the air, a staff member brought a tablet to Lin Yizhou.

The screen displayed the names of the five team members.

Without hesitation, Lin Yizhou clicked on Pei Yutai.

To rescue this member, please perform the cover dance for the song “Backlash.” The task is complete once verified by the staff.

After reading, he looked at the director’s team to confirm: “Does this mean the movements have to be repeated exactly?”

The directors looked at each other and nodded: “As long as the movements are correct.”

Receiving his answer, he nodded, sat cross-legged on the sand, and opened the dance tutorial video provided by the program.

[Comment Section]

User4: What’s he doing? Cultivating immortality? Has he just given up?

User5: This dance is hell-level for him. My friend is a dance teacher and it took them three days to learn this. Is he planning to spend the whole time saving one person? So annoying when people with no talent try to act tough and drag others down. Total idiot.

User6: During the livestream, didn’t he say he practiced dancing for a month? Three hours isn’t even enough to memorize one move…

User7: How do you know he can’t do it? In your eyes, even him breathing is a mistake.

Time passed slowly. The guests hanging by the ropes were being raised at a constant speed.

With his hands tied behind his back and clenched into fists, Pei Yutai peeked down through a slit in his eyes. Terrified, he immediately slammed them shut, his voice trembling: “Brother Xu, I can’t calm down to meditate. What do I do?”

Shen Xu stared fixedly at the person sitting on the beach, his voice cold and stiff: “Then you don’t… enough…”

The person on the beach just happened to look up, their gazes meeting across the distance of the sea.

The sea breeze ruffled the hair of the person on the shore, stirring a gentle wave in their eyes.

Shen Xu’s breath hitched for a moment. The final word he exhaled involuntarily softened: “…like him.”

The end of the sentence lifted slightly, carried away by the wind.

“Brother Xu, are you laughing at me?” Pei Yutai took a deep breath. “Impossible! I’ll think! I’ll think right now!”

Shen Xu ignored him, continuing to watch the person who had lowered their head again.

Lin Yizhou had looked up intending to visualize the dance moves in his head before going to verify. Unexpectedly, he saw Shen Xu and noticed his lips moving. He happened to be able to read some lip movements.

“Like.”

Seeing those two words, his mind went blank for a second.

When he snapped out of it, half of the movements he had memorized… were gone.

He had no choice but to look at the video one more time.

This time, he didn’t look up. He closed his eyes and ran through the movements in his mind.

Four minutes later, he turned off the tablet, stood up, and walked toward the staff members.

The staff member sitting there looked at their watch and asked in disbelief: “You’re starting the verification now?”

Lin Yizhou: “Yes.”

The staff member nodded: “Then play the accompaniment and begin.”

Lin Yizhou: “I don’t need accompaniment.”

The staff member’s eyes widened: “Dancing dry?”

Lin Yizhou: “Yes, I’m just going to… perform the moves.” He paused to choose his words. “I’ll gesture through the movements.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he began his “gestures,” chanting a self-made “mnemonic” as he moved.

During the opening intro, there was a fifteen-second sequence of standing on one leg with the left index finger to the lips.

“Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg.”

Without accompaniment, he only held the pose for about five seconds before transitioning to the next.

His left hand reached straight around to his right waist, his index finger circling twice.

His head turned left; his right hand bloomed like a flower upward, then withered downward.

“Monkey Fishing for the Moon. Self-Admiration.”

He spun once on the sand, spread his arms, moved left, moved right, and took a large leap forward.

“Great Roc Spreads Wings. Dog Jumping the Wall in Desperation.”

[Comment Section]

User8: Hahaha, dying. This jingle has monkeys, flowers, rocs, and dogs… Is he calling himself a hybrid?

User9: To be fair, this mnemonic for the moves is actually pretty well-written.

User10: This is kind of impressive. Even the staff are stunned, haha. His limbs really are like a marionette’s; he really is just gesturing every single move.

“Resisting no more.”

Chanting the last line, Lin Yizhou pulled his open right hand back to his side, pressed his left index finger back to his lips, closed his eyes, and collapsed directly onto the sand.

Like a flower hit by a backlash, forced to wither before it could tell its story.

After lying on the ground for about five seconds, Lin Yizhou stood up and asked: “Does that pass?”

The staff member had watched the “performance” with their mouth agape. In all their years in the industry, they had never seen a “cover dance” quite like this.

Hearing the question, they snapped out of it and looked toward Director Tu.

Before the director could speak, Lin Yizhou took the initiative: “The director’s team didn’t specify the form the cover dance had to take. I am certain my movements were correct.”

Director Tu looked at the verifying staff member.

The latter nodded.

Director Tu announced: “Pass.”

Immediately, Pei Yutai, who was hanging in the air, was slowly lowered.

Realizing he was descending, Pei Yutai opened his eyes. Seeing the ground getting closer, he shouted happily: “Captain, I love you! I love you to death!”

Nan Qiguang, who was still solving a puzzle, looked up briefly. He frowned before refocusing on his task.

[Comment Section]

User11: The whole task to save Pei Yutai took about thirteen minutes. Those who said he was overestimating himself earlier—aren’t you the ones who love ‘justice’? Why are you quiet now?

User12: The dance style was weird, but the moves were spot on. He only watched the video twice? I thought he just memorized texts by rote before, but this guy’s memory is actually insane (a bit jealous).

User13: Wait, wait… who is Lin Yizhou’s second choice? I didn’t see wrong, right? He clicked Jiang Siyuan’s name?

User14: I see it. But why didn’t he save the girl first? Nan Qiguang saved Xiang He first.

User15: There must be a reason. I bet he remembered Jiang Siyuan saying he can’t swim and is afraid of the sea. It has nothing to do with whether he saves the girl first.

With the first task done, Lin Yizhou took the tablet back to where he had been sitting. He glanced at Shen Xu, then clicked Jiang Siyuan’s name.

The task was a password decryption:

[Plaintext: NLOY UHX ZUFMY. Key: 6. What is the ciphertext?]

Lin Yizhou closed his eyes. After about a minute, he opened them and typed: [TRUE AND FALSE]

The screen “dinged,” and the system prompt sounded: Ciphertext correct.

[Comment Section]

User16: What even is this? I haven’t even understood the question and he already solved it???

User17: Caesar Cipher. Use Google, develop good habits (laughs).

User18: One or two letters is fine, but this is three words. Solved in less than a minute? Is his brain overclocked? Ugh, I’m tired of feeling like a background NPC.

Completing the task, Lin Yizhou didn’t even look up. He moved to the next.

He clicked Wen Yue’s task box:

[Please solve the following riddles:

1. A character with eleven strokes, no horizontal or vertical lines. A student asked Confucius, and Confucius said it was tasteless.
2. 699. 3. Half more than ‘many’.

Lin Yizhou glanced at them and, without thinking, entered the answers: 1. Bland.

2. Soap.
3. Year.

The system prompted again: Congratulations, correct.

Pei Yutai, now standing with the directors, saw Wen Yue being lowered. Excited, he jumped and politely snatched Director Tu’s megaphone, shouting: “Captain Lin is the strongest! my heart flies for you! If you hear my call, look at me but don’t be too flirtatious!”

Lin Yizhou was about to start the next task, but hearing this, he looked toward the sound and pressed his index finger to his lips in a “shush” gesture.

From Pei Yutai’s perspective, Lin Yizhou was bathed in sunlight. His black hair fluttered in the sea breeze, brushing against his eyes and cheeks. His pure black eyes held a faint smile it was incredibly gentle, incredibly handsome, and incredibly charming!

He clutched his heart as if “shot,” and raised the megaphone again: “I want to report him! Captain Lin is killing people with his face!”

Nan Qiguang, who was working hard on his puzzle, looked up just in time to see Wen Yue walking toward the beach. He glanced toward the noise and saw Lin Yizhou turning back with a helpless smile. Nan Qiguang’s grip on his tablet tightened.

[Comment Section]

User19: Looks like Team Nan is going to lose again. Lin has saved three people; Nan has only saved one… I wanted to see Nan crush Lin, but the tables have turned.

User20: Forget who wins, does anyone else… still not know what the first riddle was?

User21: I barely figured out the first and third. How does 699 become ‘Soap’?

User22: I’m done! Hubby! I declare Lin Yizhou my husband starting today. My brain is officially a ‘Sapiosexual’!

User23: For the second one… I searched and couldn’t find why. No one in the comments knows either. Petition for Lin Yizhou to explain!!!

Following that comment, 80% of the chat was asking for the answer.

Pei Yutai went back to return the megaphone and saw the comments. His interest was piqued. “Director Tu, how about I ask the Captain for you?”

Director Tu frowned, thought for a moment, and nodded. He reached out to take the megaphone, but his hand hit empty air… Pei Yutai had already dashed off with it.

Pei Yutai ran to Lin Yizhou: “Captain! The netizens are dying to know: How did you get the answer for 699?”

He eagerly held the megaphone to Lin Yizhou’s mouth.

Lin Yizhou said calmly: “699. 700 minus 1. In Chinese characters, ‘seven hundred’  minus ‘one’ (一). The answer might not be unique; the crew probably just used that character. Everyone can use their imagination.”

Pei Yutai took over: “Did you hear that? Use your imagination, folks!”

He curiously peered at the tablet screen in Lin Yizhou’s hand. Only two names remained: “Shen Xu” and “Song Chizheng.”

He announced excitedly: “Time for a guessing game, my dear viewers! Who do you think my Captain will save next?”

“Press 1 for Shen Xu, 2 for Song Chizheng. Let’s see those comments, family!”

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